1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to portable shelters, and more particularly to hard side shelters that convert into different sizes for transportation and use.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a well known practice to ship goods in International Standards Organization (ISO) containers. Such containers are very large, having nominal exterior dimensions of 19 feet 10½ inches long, eight feet wide, and eight feet high. The containers have fixed floors, roofs, and ends. Access to the container interior is through folding doors on both sides. The doors are locked closed by locking bars that engage tabs in the container floor and roof. The containers include an end bar and rails under the floor that are part of known pallet handling systems.
In theory, ISO containers could be used as hard side shelters for persons and equipment. However, despite their large size, they nevertheless are too small for some shelter purposes. For example, there is a need for shelters that are suitable for repairing large motor vehicle tires in the field. As is known, maintaining the tires of motor vehicles is mandatory for successful operation of the vehicles. A particularly difficult problem associated with tire maintenance concerns military trucks. Those trucks often operate off-road, in rough terrain, and far from repair facilities. A tire failure could jeopardize not only the truck crew in hostile areas, but even the success of the mission of which the truck is a part.
Repairing military truck tires is a difficult task. The tires and their rims and wheels are very heavy, so they require mechanical assistance to handle them. Failures associated with heavy truck tires are varied and severe, so a wide variety of large and heavy repair equipment has to be available. Finally, it is vital that the repair equipment either be located close to where the tire damage occurs, or be able to quickly reach the location of the damaged truck. That means that the repair equipment must be able to travel with the trucks to remote and rugged places. Because of the size of the tire repair equipment and the working room required around them, conventional ISO containers are not suitable as tire repair workshops.